The Cabildo of Lanzarote has announced the incorporation of the Canary camel into the subsidy lines of the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (PEPAC) 2023-2027, within the measure of "Maintenance of native breeds in danger of extinction."
This inclusion represents an explicit recognition of the historical, cultural, and economic value of the camel livestock of the Canary Islands, and particularly that of Lanzarote, where the largest number of specimens in the Archipelago are concentrated. In the municipality of Yaiza, and especially in the Uga agricultural and livestock estate, are located most of the farms dedicated to this species, which constitute an island and regional reference in the breeding, care, and use of the Canarian camel.
The Canarian camel, the only native breed in Spain and Europe, had been excluded from agri-environmental aid in both the Canary Islands Rural Development Program (RDP 2014-2020) and the first calls of the current CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. Despite being registered since 2012 in the Official Catalog of Livestock Breeds of Spain as an endangered species, it had not received financial support from European funds in either program.
The President of the Cabildo and Island Councillor for Agriculture and Livestock, Oswaldo Betancort, pointed out that "today we celebrate a historic achievement that does justice to a breed that has been key to the development of our island, its landscape and its economic model. The Canarian camel is part of the identity of Lanzarote and now, finally, has a framework of European support that will allow farmers to continue to care for it and guarantee its survival over time."
Betancort recalled that "it has been more than ten years in which the camel was not included in agro-environmental aid, so this achievement is the result of hard work. We can say that for the first time, the Canarian camel has access to European aid that recognizes its historical, cultural and economic importance."
The measure, which will take effect after the next formal modification of the CAP Strategic Plan that the Ministry of Agriculture will present to the European Commission, opens the door to the call for specific aid for new applicants who want to contribute to the conservation of this native breed in danger of extinction. With this, Lanzarote advances in the defense of its rural heritage and in the enhancement of a species that, in addition to its contribution to the primary sector, constitutes an inseparable symbol of the island's landscape and culture.